Cabbage Juice for Ulcers and Liver Detox: Here’s How and Why It Works

Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that the thought of cabbage juice doesn’t exactly make my taste buds light up. But…cabbage is one of the healthiest beauty foods you can juice and if you’re juicing for health (read: ulcers) or vanity (ahem, better skin), it is one veggie that deserves constant inclusion in your juicing recipes.

Why? Cabbage is related to some exceedingly healthy superfoods like Brussel sprouts, broccoli and kale. It is rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that are readily absorbed into the bloodstream when cabbage is juiced. Cabbage is also a great source of iron, phosphorus, magnesium, thiamin, potassium, calcium and vitamins B6, C and K.

But the fact that cabbage is a nutrient powerhouse is not the only reason it is so damn good for you. Read on to find out the awesome beauty benefits of cabbage and why this power veggie should be a regular in your juice recipes…

6 Unique Benefits of Cabbage Juice

Healthy Gut = Healthy Skin

Yes, we’ve gone on and on about getting your gut into tip top shape – but that’s ’cause it’s super important to getting radiant, glowing skin. The gut-skin relationship is official so if you want that perfect skin we’re all craving – work on your gut first.

If you want to heal your skin, you have to heal your gut. – Chris Kesser

And this is where cabbage juice comes in – there’s good reason this cruciferous stuff is most widely used for digestive issues. This is not due to any one particular vitamin or mineral but rather a number of them, like:

Glutamine in an amino acid known to treat peptic ulcers and restore the cells in your digestive tract. It is a gentle cleansing agent good for detoxifying, cleansing, healing, repairing and regenerating the digestive system. This powerful amino acid can be effective with even small amounts of cabbage juice (like approximately 100ml) taken three times daily on an empty stomach.

Cabbage juice has also been used to cure irritable bowel syndrome, colitis and other disorders.

The high iodine and sulphur content helps to clean out the intestinal tract and mucus membranes in the stomach.

Cabbage juice acts as a mild laxative, aiding in the treatment of constipation by stimulating bowel movements.

This is great news – not just for your bowels, but for your skin. Got acne? A recent study found that bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine was 10 times more prevalent in people with acne rosacea than in the healthy control group. Even cooler? The correction of this condition resulted in marked improvement.

To add to that, around 14% of patients with ulcerative colitis (not fun to have, btw) as well as 24% of patients with Crohn’s disease have skin conditions. And it goes on and on.

Heal your gut and radiant skin will follow.

Let’s not stop there. Juicing cabbage is good for more than just digestive issues. This cancer-fighting superfood is a powerful healer. It is packed full of beneficial nutrients that contribute to a number of health benefits…

Give Your Blood What it Needs

Cabbage juice is packed with the good green stuff so you get all the beauty benefits of chlorophyll – but that’s not all. It’s also chockfull of folic acid, which helps your body build new blood cells.

That’s great news if you’re living with anemia – and the side effects of it, like brittle nails and hair as well as pale and rash-prone skin. Your best cabbage bets for folic acid is bok choy (Chinese cabbage) or Savoy cabbage – a cup of either type of cabbage has 17% of your DV for folic acid.

Treat Your Tresses

Cabbage juice is also beneficial when it comes to hair care. It is used to treat both weak hair and hair loss. The sulphur, silicon and Vitamin E in raw cabbage juice will strength your hair, nourish the roots, encourage hair growth, and give your hair a beautiful luster.

Get Glowing Skin

Like so many fruits and veggies, cabbage is packing some serious antioxidants (vitamins C, E, and A! yay!) and phytochemicals as well as a lesser-known but powerful antioxidant known as indole-3-carbonile. What’s this funky-named antioxidant do? It supports liver detox.

And detoxifying your liver comes with a huge skin perk: you help your body get rid of toxins that can build up in the bloodstream and lead to dull, blemished skin. Extra perk of liver detox? Your liver is a major fat burning organ in the body and regulates fat metabolism so helping to unload some of its toxin load supports your weight loss efforts as well.

Speaking of weight loss…

Drop Pounds with Cabbage Juice

Cabbage is low in fats and calories but rich in vitamins, fibers and minerals. And of course consuming it raw or juiced offers the most nutritional value.

But on top of its “high nutritional buck for your caloric bang” – which, let’s face it, all green veggies have – raw cabbage also helps clear and detoxify your intestines and aid the process of digestion. Even cooler? It’s also got a little chemical called tartaric acid, which inhibits the conversion of sugar and other carbohydrates into fat.

Keep Yourself Healthy and Free From Disease

One of the best beauty benefits of cabbage juice is its immune-boosting prowess – after all, what’s sexier than vibrant, radiant health?

The phytochemicals in cabbage stimulate and strengthen the immune system, helping to protect you from a wide array of illnesses, including cancer. You see, cabbage contains a compound called “sulforaphane” that acts as an anti-carcinogen. It’s also a very good source of a glucosinolate called sinigrin that’s proved promising in cancer prevention research, as it can be converted into allyl-isothiocyanate (AITC), which has demonstrated unique preventative qualities for bladder, colon, and prostate cancers.

Just keep in mind that raw cabbage and very short-cooked cabbage were the only ones to show cancer-preventative benefits since long cooking times (and microwave cooking) destroys the helpful enzymes that help convert the cabbage’s glucosinolates into cancer-preventive compounds.

So drink it raw 🙂

How to Juice Cabbage

Excited about the beauty benefits of cabbage juice but worried about the taste of cabbage juice? The smaller varieties of cabbage taste better 🙂

Store cabbage in the refrigerator in a perforated bag to avoid the loss of the precious skin vitamin (vitamin C)

If you find the taste of raw cabbage foul, try purple cabbage for a sweeter option. Cabbage juice can also be mixed with other raw juices like carrot, celery, cucumber, spinach or apple.

Choose cabbage heads that are firm and solid with shiny, crisp, colourful leaves. Severe destruction to the outer leaves is indicative of worm damage or decay.

Excited to start juicing some cabbage but unsure about the taste? The wonderful-ness (or nastiness) of cabbage juice depends entirely on what juice recipe you use – yes, this is one veggie that needs a good team of cooperative ingredients 🙂